Nissan Juke - Top 10 best 2015 cars

The Juke puts the “fun” in “funky,” making it perfect for those who want a spry and speedy little runabout that also stands out in traffic. It’s powered by a 188-hp 1.6-liter turbo four-cylinder with front-wheel drive; all-wheel drive is optional. Sadly, a CVT is the only available transmission, which takes some joy out of driving. On the plus side, its light and informative steering makes it easy to fling around back-country curves or to jockey for position on a crowded interstate.

2015 Nissan Juke Brings More Standard Features, More LEDs, More Colors, and the Same Weirdness

Its name is Juke, and it remains funky for 2015. The crossover’s midcycle refresh this year doesn’t involve radical aesthetic upgrades. The lighting has been revised, new colors are available, the front and rear fascias have been subtly tweaked, and the cars offer new standard features. Hence, the Juke, like Austin, keeps it weird. Weirder still, you might have noticed that we already used some of this website’s space to discuss the 2015 Juke, but effort was directed toward the global version that debuted at this year’s Geneva auto show. The Juke information contained here is specific to the U.S. market, and thus worthy of your renewed attention.

The Juke’s 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine carries over with unchanged output figures of 188 horsepower and 177 lb-ft of torque, although Nissan claims that the mill has been “significantly revised” in the interest of responsiveness and lower emissions. Once again, the more powerful NISMO RS model has 215 ponies and a helical limited-slip front differential in front-drive versions equipped with the six-speed manual transmission. Speaking of said transmission, it no longer is available in regular Jukes; only NISMO and NISMO RS buyers will have the option, leaving the base S, midlevel SV, and luxe SL trims saddled with Nissan’s Xtronic CVT.

These changes beget changes to the Juke’s EPA fuel-economy ratings. The front-drive Juke S, SV, and SL are now rated for 28 mpg in the city—1 more than last year—and still put up 32 mpg on the highway. The manual-only front-wheel-drive Juke NISMO gains a huge 3 mpg on both cycles, for new totals of 28 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway; the Xtronic-equipped all-wheel-drive NISMO adds 1 mpg to its city figure—for 26 mpg—and keeps last year’s 31-mpg highway label. The NISMO RS’s figures are mostly unchanged, with the stick-shift version netting 25/31 mpg and the all-wheel-drive Xtronic edition getting 25/29 (a drop of 1 mpg highway with AWD).

Aside from the mechanical shuffling, every 2015 Juke comes with the previously optional Nissan Intelligent Key with push-button engine starting, a backup camera, Bluetooth connectivity, and a hands-free text-message reader. Nissan also tweaked the Juke’s headlights, switched the crossover’s signature “eyebrow” running lights to LED illumination, and sprinkled some LED love on the boomerang-shaped taillights.

Optional equipment includes Nissan’s Around View parking assist, a 5.8-inch touch screen, satellite radio, and what Nissan is calling “color packs,” part of the new Juke “Color Studio.” Separate from the three new-for-2015 Juke paint colors, Super Black, Solar Yellow, and Cosmic Blue, the color packs allow you the leeway to add snappy, vibrant inserts to optional 17-inch wheels, spec the exterior mirror caps in a different hue, and pick from a cornucopia of interior trim colors (red, black, white, yellow, electric blue, and fabulous, luxuriant purple!). NISMO Jukes continue to offer just red-and-the-black interior color schemes, but wonderful and heavily bolstered seats (Recaro units in the RS) more than make up for the restrictive palette.

Pricing starts at $21,075 for a bare-bones, front-drive Juke S, $1095 more than last year’s model. The SV and SL see respective price increases of $95 (compared with the 2014 SV with the CVT) and $785, to $23,125 and $26,065. The NISMO’s price leaps by $1675, to $25,655, while the NISMO RS commands an additional $1915 for a whopping total of $28,845. Want AWD with that? Add $1850 to the price of an S or SV, $1700 to the SL, $2400 to the base Juke NISMO, or $2000 to a NISMO RS. The additional standard content certainly factors into the Juke’s price inflation, as does the eradication of the SV’s cost-saving manual-transmission option.

The Juke NISMO continues to be our choice—the RS is even better, but it’s pricey—even more so now that the boostier Jukes are the only choice for Save the Manuals fans. Will the Juke’s changes be enough to stave the onslaught of new compact crossovers such as the Chevrolet Trax, updated Kia Soul, Fiat 500X, Jeep Renegade, Honda HR-V, and the highly appealingMazda CX-3? A tiny-ute comparison test may be in order, but the Juke continues to be the most unusual-looking thing out there.